


Gingersnaps

by DiRoxy



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Angst, Apple Pie, F/F, Fluff, Nerves, Time Travel AU, cute kisses, gingersnap cookies, no SBurb AU
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-13
Updated: 2017-05-13
Packaged: 2018-10-31 07:10:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,388
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10894308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DiRoxy/pseuds/DiRoxy
Summary: Ten feet ahead of her was everything she had ever wanted. It had taken an eternity to get here. Challenges, messed up science, failed experiments. Still, she had finally gotten it right.----Roxy Lalonde was born in the 25th century. Her best friend and crush was born in the 21st. She decides to build a time machine and fix the distance between them.





	Gingersnaps

Ten feet ahead of her was everything she had ever wanted. It had taken an eternity to get here. Challenges, messed up science, failed experiments. Still, she had finally gotten it right. There had been a few mess ups though. Like that time she’d traveled through to a different universe, where they’d all been playing a game that had taken their lives multiple times. That had… well, she’d had nightmares after that one for a while. Not like it was really any different from her casual reality of the Batterwitch threatening to kill her and Dirk every couple of days. Really it was a miracle any of them had lived to 19.

 

But this was different. Everything said that she’d gotten in right. From the 25th century to the 21st. From where New York had been to Washington.

 

To Jane’s house.

 

Roxy took a deep breath and blinked a few times. She wasn’t quite certain what she was feeling. Sober? Well, that was a given. She’d stopped drinking when she’d replaced one bad habit with another. Alcohol abuse had been replaced with overworking herself. Dirk had been particularly worried about her, but she had always assured him that she was fine.

 

And… she was. Everything had paid off. She was whole and she was… she was here.

 

Something fell on her nose and she blinked again, tipping her head back to look up at the sky. It was overcast, and the light gray the clouds took on was quickly growing darker. A storm? So. It was rain then. She couldn’t remember the last time it rained back home. Sure the world was covered in water but… she still couldn’t recall rain.

 

Her stomach twisted into knots and she looked back towards the door of Jane’s house. It should be welcoming, right? But she hadn’t told Jane she was coming. Hadn’t told Jane everything she’d been through. The poor woman hadn’t needed the excess stress after everything that _ she’d  _ been through. Assassination attempts, bombings, getting her father targeted, and then being groomed to be the next CEO of a global company that was headed by a heinous bitch.

 

Yeah. Jane hadn’t needed the extra stress.

 

But now Roxy didn’t know how the woman was going to react to her being there.

 

She clenched her hands into fists and then shook them out, shivering slightly as a few more rain drops fell on her bare arms. She supposed it would make sense that the rain was cold, and honestly it was just flat out cold here. Far different from the fiery world she’d left behind.

 

Hopefully Dirk could follow the instructions she left for him when she sent the blueprints through to him. He was good enough at building things. Robots in particular. A time machine wasn’t so different really. She would hate to leave him stranded in the future too.

 

She tipped her head back once more, letting the raindrops hit her face. It was refreshing. Right until the clouds opened wide and a deluge of rain fell on her. She squeaked, hardly registering the sound, and threw her arms over her head. Welp, there went the plan to show up looking slightly put together.

 

Roxy laughed despite herself and gave herself a shake, pushing down the nauseous feeling of anxiety. There was no time like the present.

 

This present.

 

Putting one foot in front of the other, she approached the door. The walking grew easier, but her unease got worse. Still, once she was under the eave of the doorway, she could at least put her arms down and try to compose herself. She pushed her hair back from her face, wrung out the bottom of her shirt, and then wiped underneath her eyes gently so that she didn’t smudge her mascara.

 

The door was less than a foot from her now, but she found that she still couldn’t raise her fist to knock. It was a small form of paralysis, a silly form of paralysis. Why was she so nervous to knock on a door? Sure it meant that she was going to see her friend in the flesh for the first time, and sure it would give her the solid proof that she had succeeded.

 

Perhaps that was why? Was it because she still wasn’t convinced that she was really here?

 

The phone in her skirt pocket started vibrating and she jumped, grabbing for it in order to silence it before the jingle of her drunken singing could start. Why had she set her notification to that. Why hadn’t she set her call notification to that instead of her text notification. Past Roxy really hadn’t thought these things through, and now Present Roxy was paying for it. Still, she successfully grabbed the smart phone and unlocked it with her thumb, eying the screen.

 

It was open to pesterchum and it looked like it was Dirk that was talking to her. She scrolled through the messages idly, trying to see if there was anything important in his recent ramble. The windows from Jake and Jane were flashing as well, but she paid them no mind for the time being. Dirk’s messages seemed to be getting increasingly more illegible. It wasn’t necessarily that he was keysmashing or anything like that. It was more… equations. Robotics.

 

So he wasn’t even going to wait before she gave the all clear to figure out how to make it work. Typical Dirk. Or maybe it was the AR this time.

 

TG: dirk pls

TG: i made it btw, no biggie

TG: jsut hard to knock yk?

TG: *just

TG: sober as hell, still cnat spell

TG: ^ case in point

TT: I’m glad to hear that you made it alright

TT: So your coordinates are correct?

TT: And the timing?

TG: i think so anyways

TG: looks like janeys house and its the right address

TG: p sure this is where all the packagse went

TG: *packages

TT: So why don’t you knock?

TG: nervous

TT: Don’t be. Jane will be more than happy that you came to see her.

TG: janey doesnt know what it took to get here

TT: She might have a clue

TG: AR?

TT: AR.

TG: gonna stab ur glasses d-man

TG: tho it does explain the super flashin of her chat window

TT: Should answer her. I’m going to see if I can get a copy of the machine built. It might take a few days.

TG: wats this? Di-Stri admitting that he might not be able to finsih a machine in just a few hours?

TG: i think the world rly is comin to an end

TT: Laugh it up. Go knock.

 

— timaeusTestified [TT] is now an idle chum! —

 

TG: geez fine

 

Roxy wrinkled her nose and looked back up at the door. She wasn’t certain she really did want to knock. But if AR had told Jane already then Jane might be expecting her and she couldn’t keep her friend waiting. That would be just rude! And yet still…

 

She clicked over the Jane’s chat window and chuckled. There was nothing out of the ordinary here. Just the usual chatter about new games, new shows, something about Dirk mentioning a time machine (GG: As if you need a time machine to come visit! You just need a plane ticket!) and then something about Jake. Well, it didn’t look like Jane was suspicious of Roxy showing up out of the blue. Even though she’d totally been standing in front of Jane’s door for at least 5 minutes at this point. That wasn’t counting how long she’d just been standing on the sidewalk watching the rain.

 

Ah fuck it. She was going to knock.

 

She did it quickly, before her stomach and brain could really catch up with what she was doing. Two quick raps against the wood, and then she let her hand fall back to her side. Alright. Step one was complete. She just needed to think of this as a series of quests right? Quest one was knock on the door. Quest two was wait for the door to be opened.

 

There was nothing to give away movement from inside the house though, and for a long moment Roxy thought she might have caught Jane when she wasn’t home. Wouldn’t that just be her luck. Forced to sit on the stoop in the rain while waiting for her friend to return. Of course she could message her and be like ‘yo when you coming home’ but that would give away the surprise.

 

Longer than she would have liked—or maybe sooner—the doorknob at her elbow jiggled and then turned.

 

She held her breath.

 

The door opened, and there she was. Jane. Her best friend. Her nose was smudged in flour, her glasses were crooked, and her apron was red, with white lace trim, and said ‘kiss the cook.’ Jesus fuckin Christ she was adorable. Jane’s mouth—was that red lipstick? When did Janey start wearing lipstick?—was opened in a surprised ‘o’ shape, and one hand had flown up to her hair to pat at it. Was that a self-conscious move or a surprised one?

 

Roxy spread her arms wide and smiled brightly, ignoring the way her shirt stuck to her in all the wrong places due to the rain from earlier. “Surprise!” She squeaked then, again, when Jane suddenly pulled her in for a hug that was tight as could be. It was… strange… how quickly someone could tell they’d been touch starved. She sunk into the embrace and wrapped her arms around Jane in return.

 

Jane finally pulled back and held Roxy by the shoulders, and Roxy laughed at the thorough inspection she got. “Ro-lal! You could have told me you were coming! I would have picked you up from the airport, or at least have baked a cake. Had cookies ready for you. Something. A spare room?”

 

Roxy grinned and cupped Jane’s face between her hands, getting the shorter woman to stop for a moment. “What part of surprise did you miss, Janey? I couldn’t exactly tell you I was comin’ if it was a surprise!”

 

There was a pause there as Jane narrowed her eyes and then set her glasses back on straight. “You still don’t have anywhere to stay do you?” she asked. Roxy thought her face would remain neutral, but there must have been something that betrayed her because Jane sighed and shook her head. “Well, luckily for you I have an air mattress. Now get in here, you’re soaking wet. Goodness, do you not have a change of clothes with you either?”

 

“It was a bit of an impromptu trip,” Roxy replied, following Jane inside and closing the door behind her. It was much warmer inside the house, and something that smelled like one of the old candles she had found. Pie? “Is that pie I smell?”

 

“Mmhmm. Apple pie. Just went in the oven 10 minutes ago, I was making some ginger snaps to go with it. Now, how was your trip impromptu?”

 

Had Jane been standing still, Roxy was positive she would have had her hands on her hips and a concerned look on her face. As it was though, she watched as her friend bustled around, and she followed when Jane grabbed her wrist. Before she knew it she was inside Jane’s bedroom. It wasn’t that strange, she’d seen it through the video client all the time, but it was still different to be standing there in person. 

 

Next thing she knew there was a towel and a bundle of clothing being shoved at her.

 

“Here, you can dry off and change into these. But I do expect an answer on your impromptu trip that included you packing nothing except your phone,” Jane said.

 

And there went the hands on the hips. Roxy giggled and dropped the clothes onto Jane’s bed, using the towel to dry her hair. “It’s kind of a relief to see that you’re just the same in person as you are on chat,” she said.

 

“You aren’t going to redirect me so easily, Ro-Lal.”

 

She wrinkled her nose and then pulled off her shirt, trading it out for the nightgown that Jane had given her. “Dirk and I agreed not to tell you but I guess the AR kind of spoiled it already.”

 

“How would the AR spoil it?”

 

Roxy tossed her a look over her shoulder as she shimmied out of her skirt, dropping it down beside her shirt and then picking up the whole bundle. “Janey, remember that message you sent me about not needing a time machine to come visit you? Kinda did.”

 

“That’s… that’s utterly bizarre and impossible.” Jane’s protest was weak at best and Roxy was a bit surprised. So someone had been wearing her down about the impossible after all.

 

“Not so impossible I’m afraid.” Roxy shrugged then and gave her a shaky smile. “Surprise, time travel is possible. It was impromptu cause I didn’t know if it would work, and sure I had fail safes in place to take me back home just in case it was wrong, but it takes a lot of power. This… well, this hop was one of my last hopes. So yeah, I don’t have clothes, or a computer, or really anything. But, I did jump back 4 centuries sooo.”

 

Jane blinked at her owlishly, and Roxy could pretty much see the gears turning in her head.

 

“Do you need me to call Dirk and have him screenshot the date on his computer screen on camera for you?” Roxy asked, perhaps just a touch dry. Maybe a little bitter. Why was it so hard to believe that yes, she had traveled through time. Stranger things had happened, Jane. Stranger things had happened.

 

“I- no. It’s just.” Jane’s lips pursed and she was rubbing her hands together. “It just doesn’t make sense!”

 

“Not everything in life does, Janey.” Roxy pulled the towel off her head and let out a sigh. “It doesn’t matter. What matters is I made it, and you’re here, and you’re the same ol’ Janey I love.” She gave Jane a bright smile then, noting the blush that darkened her friend’s cheeks. “Remind me one of these days to tell you about all the fails I had!”

 

“Fails?” Jane’s voice was cautious, and her brow was furrowed. “You had failures for jumping through time?”

 

“Mmhmm. Once I jumped a universe. I think. That was pretty bizarre. But I know for a fact it wasn’t a dream, I got a scar from that one. Alt us are pretty kick ass.” She grinned and put the towel and her clothes into the hamper next to Jane’s closet. “So! You mentioned that you were making ginger snaps. Think you can teach me?”

 

“I- yes? You’ve never made ginger snaps?”

 

“Let me tell you something about the 25th century Janey. It sucked. I survived off of pumpkins I pilfered through time. Dirk lives off of fish and orange soda. I have never eaten a cookie, a cake, or a sandwich. This is the first time I’ve seen rain that I can remember. The future is not all it’s chalked up to be.”

 

That seemingly was what sealed the deal for Jane, as she grabbed Roxy by the hand and dragged her back to the kitchen. “Ginger snaps aren’t terribly difficult, but nothing is that difficult when you follow the recipe,” she explained, dropping her wrist so that she could shove the recipe card at Roxy instead.

 

Roxy took it and looked over the looping handwriting. “Isn’t this a bit of a large batch?” she asked finally, looking back up at Jane. The woman was already back to working on the dough, and Roxy couldn’t help but smile fondly. Good ol’ Janey. Even when things weren’t going the way she expected she took it in stride. With maybe a hiccup or two along the way.

 

“It is a bit of a large one, but I got worried when the AR mentioned time travel and then stopped responding, and then you weren’t responding, and Jake is off in la-la land again on his island. Which would be why there is a pie, and cookies. I stress bake, you know that.”

 

Roxy smiled and leaned against the counter with her hip, reaching over to wipe the flour off of Jane’s nose. “Of course I know, but it’s different seeing it in person.”

 

Jane made a humming noise and wrinkled her nose in response, but then started scooping the dough onto cookie sheets that were laying in wait. “You’re being quite ridiculous Roxy.”

 

Roxy waggled her eyebrows in response and then hopped up onto the counter, crossing her legs. “I’m just… really happy.” It was definitely a better sensation than the anxiety that had gripped her before knocking on the door. She felt lighter, like all of her stress had suddenly vanished. And Jane was exceptionally cute with the way she kept blushing.

 

Suddenly Jane shoved a spoon her direction, and Roxy took it with a confused sound. “Wha—?”

 

“Try the dough.”

 

Roxy narrowed her eyes and watched the top of Jane’s head as Jane continued scooping the dough onto cookie sheets. Still, she popped the spoon into her mouth and tried the dough. And promptly let out a moan. “Jesus, this is what gingersnap cookies taste like?”

 

“Well, gingersnap cookie dough anyway.” Jane lifted her head and smiled, and Roxy’s heart skipped a beat. Wow, okay. Ignoring a crush was considerably harder when in close contact with the person. Of course she could have always just been mistaking her feelings but—

 

“Hey Janey?”

 

Roxy dropped the spoon onto the counter and fought to keep her blush at bay. When had she suddenly gotten so nervous again?

 

“Yes Roxy?”

 

“Can I kiss you?”

 

Well, at least she wasn’t the only one blushing now. Jane had lit up brightly and looked like she was about to start sputtering. Oh no. She’d overstepped. Crap, she knew this would happen. Her damn mouth would get ahead of her brain and she would make a stupid mistake, and she didn’t have anywhere to run to now and… oh. Jane was kissing  _ her _ .

 

There was a space of four heartbeats where Roxy didn’t know how to respond, and then she cupped Jane’s cheek with her palm and leaned into it. It was sweet, soft. Jane’s mouth was soft. Pliable. Warm. Adjectives that flew through her head before promptly getting the boot again as she focused in on it.

 

She pulled back then and licked her lips, blinking a few times. “Oh.”

 

Jane was still blushing, but she was smiling. There was a beat, and then Jane’s brow furrowed as she thought of something. “Wait. If you came back to the past, does that mean Dirk will too?”

 

Roxy was a little thrown by the subject change, but she gave a little shrug as she absentmindedly stroked her thumb across Jane’s cheek. “I gave him the blueprints and the coordinates. Told him I made it too. So… probably?”

 

“Dirk is coming… here?”

 

“Probably?”

 

Jane was leaning into Roxy’s hand, and Roxy was loathe to relinquish that contact. But she didn’t protest when Jane straightened up and brushed down her apron.

 

“Well, I guess I should prepare the guest room for him. And make a welcome home meal. For both of you.”

 

“I don’t know when Dirk is going to get here though,” Roxy said with a furrowed brow. “It could be days. Wait. Welcome home meal?”

 

“Well clearly you two will need somewhere to stay, and I have the room,” Jane said, shrugging. She turned to the oven as it beeped and turned the heat down, then went about putting the trays of cookies on the top shelf of the oven. “And you’ll need dinner, and if Dirk shows up tonight then all the better. Also.” She whipped around to face Roxy again and jabbed a finger at her, making Roxy lean back just a bit. “I expect you to actually take me out on a date missy.”

 

Roxy stared at Jane for a long moment before she grinned brightly. “I wouldn’t dare not to Janey.”

 

Welcome home meal, hm? She could get used to calling this place home.

**Author's Note:**

> This was written for the Homestuck Artist Discord's Fic-Art Collab challenge! It was a lot of fun, even though it tried to be so much angstier than I wanted. But I hope you all enjoyed it!


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